This week has also seen Apple departures including longtime PR chief Katie Cotton and Zane Row, VP of Sales for North America. Today we’re learning about an actual addition to the family instead of a subtraction. Apple hired Ari Partinen, who was formally the Lumia Photography Lead at Nokia and is listed as one of the inventors of the PureView camera system.

Today will be my last day working for the amazing #Lumia family. In June I will start a new chapter in Cupertino, California. Much love!

The 8MP rear shooter on the iPhone 5s has also been regarded as an excellent smartphone-class camera, but there is always room for improvement. And while the addition of Partinen to the Apple family means that we’re sure to see an uptick in iPhone camera quality down the road, his contributions won’t come soon enough to be featured on the iPhone 6.

Speaking of the iPhone 6, Reuters is reporting that Apple’s next generation flagship smartphone will arrive a month earlier than previously thought -- the 4.7” smartphone is now expected to arrive in stores this August. Apple is quickly ramping up production of the iPhone 6, and has plans to produce 80 million handsets via its partners before the end of the year.

4.7" iPhone 6 mockup

The 4.7” version of the iPhone 6 will be the first to hit store shelves, but it’s been widely reported that a larger, 5.5” version won’t be too far behind.

You do realize that they were in fact first with their virtual assistant, Siri, though they did buy it?The same with capacitive multitouch, though again they bought it.They also had in app billing in 2009, two years before Google Play had it.They released their Retina display in 2010, while the Galaxy S was only 480x800, and because it was Pentile it was effectively even lower then that. This wasn't rectified until the GS3 in 2012

Clearly Apple isn't first in everything; they were late to 3G and LTE, to the large screen size, etc. They aren't behind in everything either, though.

quote: You do realize that they were in fact first with their virtual assistant, Siri, though they did buy it?

Virtual Assistants long predate Siri, heck "Clippy" could be coined as the first popular virtual assistant, albeit extremely limited. (You could even have it speak if you had voice recognition software.)

quote: The same with capacitive multitouch, though again they bought it.

Again, false.Mitsubishi built a Capacitive-multitouch "surface"-esque PC back in 2001, Apple was the first with it in a mobile phone.

quote: They also had in app billing in 2009, two years before Google Play had it.

In-App billing, actually occurred in MMO's in the PC space years before Apple brought it into it's devices.

quote: They released their Retina display in 2010, while the Galaxy S was only 480x800, and because it was Pentile it was effectively even lower then that. This wasn't rectified until the GS3 in 2012

The PC had 1080P CRT monitors in 1995/1996, a few years after that, there were 4k workstation monitors, "Retina" is just a marketing term, today it's low-end in the mobile space.

What Apple did do successfully was created something average, charged it at a high price and people still somehow flocked to it in droves.

The revisionist history among Apple fans is laughable. Can you imagine if Apple actually invented multi-touch? They would have sued the entire tech world. What Apple was was first to market with the slick multi-touch UI in 2007. In the past 7 years, not much else. Lets keep v it in perspective here.

quote: Virtual Assistants long predate Siri, heck "Clippy" could be coined as the first popular virtual assistant, albeit extremely limited. (You could even have it speak if you had voice recognition software.)

When you try to use Clippy as an example as a pre-existing technology related to Siri, you've already failed.

quote: Again, false.Mitsubishi built a Capacitive-multitouch "surface"-esque PC back in 2001

That wasn't a screen. Major, major difference you 'neglected' there. Either through ignorance or deliberate misdirection.

quote: In-App billing, actually occurred in MMO's in the PC space years before Apple brought it into it's devices.

Does that dispute his point that Apple had it before Google? No? Then why write such drivel?

quote: The PC had 1080P CRT monitors in 1995/1996, a few years after that, there were 4k workstation monitors

This sentence is so ridiculously dumb. You obviously have no clue what PPI means and can't accept that Apple started the whole high resolution race on smartphones.

quote: Does that dispute his point that Apple had it before Google? No? Then why write such drivel?

No it doesn't dispute that particular point, but the point was that this not something original from Apple. Furthermore, why does it matter? Point scoring?

quote: You obviously have no clue what PPI means and can't accept that Apple started the whole high resolution race on smartphones.

They started it by coining a marketing term, and almost immediately fell further and further behind in the so-called "race". So what if they started it? Why does that matter either? Because without Apple's contribution to society we would still be using 100PPI displays on our phones? These points are completely.... Pointless.

Exactly... Who gives a crap who did what first years ago. What matters is who is making the best products for your needs at the best price point today. Apple bought Siri years ago... Google now is immensely better. Apple was first with high res screens in phones... Now they are miles behind. Apple was first with a slick multitouch UI... Now they are years behind and the OS is just laughable compared to Android and WP and BB10 for that matter.

Actually, I was using voice commands on Android for making calls, sending texts, composing emails, doing searches, and operating Maps navigation a half year before Siri came out. It couldn't do things like make appointments, but most of the functionality was already there. Google just never thought of anthropomorphizing it by having it talk back to you and giving it a snazzy name.

Yup... But ultimately, when you go to buy a phone what are you going to look at... Who made some features first many years ago, or who makes the feature set that closest matches what you want today? No question, you are going to go with what matches your needs and price point 1st...

Apple, Google, MS, Samsung, Moto, LG, Nokia, and many many other companies have all made contributions to the "whole package" of todays smartphones. It long past time we all STFU about who invented which feature. It's just tiresome and childish.

Cannot stress this enough. I mean wow, I had no idea how behind Sir was until I started using an iPhone for work. It's useless! I have to pull out my personal phone and use Google Now for like everything.

*Asks Siri to call someone or find something*

Siri responds with some snarky BS about that not being in my address book

No sh*t you retarded "personal assistant". Why in the hell would I be asking you to find me something if it was in my address book already? It's called the INTERNET, try using it for a change.

Or my personal favorite, I'm trying to get the phone number to a place and it tries to navigate me to it automatically. Umm, did I ask you for navigation? No! I asked you a name of a place, in a desperate hope that you would pull up some worthwhile information.

Android is just SO much better at Internet integration. Which should be no surprise, given that Google is so much better at that than everyone else. But seriously, Siri is basically WORTHLESS outside of getting whether reports, whooptie do.

Also it's vocal recognition sucks ass. I have to repeat myself way more than I ever had to with Google Now.

These long tedious discussions where people, often with an odd but striking tone of desperation, attempt to prove that Apple are not innovative via a forensic trawling through tech history are both pointless and utterly misconstrued. What seems to be happening is a confusion between various concepts, such as innovation, invention, creation, etc, all of which are actually very different (though often connected) things but which are bandied about as if they interchangeable.

This article about the curse of 'Innoveracy' (the systematic misunderstanding of innovation) is a pretty good clarification.

So in order to justify your unbelievably retarded argument, you claim I'm making an argument about an iPhone which I'm not, and proceed to claim that made up argument is stupid too, therefore yours wasn't.

You do realize that everybody had 800x480 (or 848x480) phones while Apple was still 480x320?Apple only had the resolution lead for a short period with 960x640. They have been quickly outplaced with the release of 1280x720 phones and now 1920x1080.

No he does not realize that. Apple trolls arent concered with facts, and they dont pay attention to any product that does things better than Apple. If you have 10 milestones and Apple was the first to hit one of those 10, that would be the single technical detail they know. it's beyond ridiculous listening to these inept jackasses.